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Mono Lake 20

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Speaker Bios

David Aladjem (Downey Brand)

David Aladjem helps clients throughout California manage and resolve water resources management problems, especially those at the intersection of water rights, endangered species, and CEQA/NEPA.

He represents water districts, cities, counties and private companies in obtaining, developing and protecting their water rights. He regularly represents clients in connection with water transfers and about the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater.

As both general counsel and special counsel, he provides clients with unparalleled experience and insight in dealing with the regulatory maze and in negotiating with other water rights holders, state and federal agencies and environmental groups. He practices regularly before the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Water Resources and other state and federal agencies with control over water resources or endangered species.

Clients turn to David for his “out of the box” approach to solving problems. He masters the technical details of a case and then is able to find the legal and political strategies to provide a cost-effective solution for his clients.

David believes that practicing law is about listening, not only to what is said but what is not said. Recently, in the midst of heated negotiations, the other party used a word that David didn’t expect – “fear.” The two of them talked about that fear and the way that it had infected the negotiations. Within 20 minutes, they had re-written the critical provision of the agreement and resolved the dispute. David believes that by listening carefully – to his clients and to the other sides of a dispute – complex problems can be resolved and new opportunities can open up. Finding those solutions and helping clients find those opportunities – particularly in the context of long-standing relationships — are what he enjoys about practicing law.

Martin L. Adams (Los Angeles Department of Water & Power)  

MARTIN L. ADAMS, Deputy Senior Assistant General Manager – Water System. Mr. Adams will succeed Mr. McDaniel as Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System. With more than 30 years of experience with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Mr. Adams was the Director of Water Operations for 10 years, in charge of the day-to-day operation and maintenance of water, including the historical Los Angeles Aqueduct, City pump stations and reservoirs, water wells and water purchases, water treatment and disinfection, and management of Water System properties. Prior to directing Water Operations, Mr. Adams oversaw the planning and implementation of sweeping changes related to the Water System, centered on the removal of open distribution reservoirs and changes in water treatment to meet new water quality regulations and post-September 11 security concerns.

Mr. Adams received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is a registered Civil Engineer in the State of California.
David Cobb (HDR)

David is the National Director of Civic Affairs for HDR, Inc. A graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the University of Southern California, David is a results-oriented professional with over 32 years of progressively responsible strategic planning, public policy, political and communications experience. As HDR’s National Director for Civic Affairs, David oversee HDR’s Civic affairs program at the State, Federal and local levels across the United States. He has a special expertise in infrastructure development, particularly in the transportation, water, education and natural resources domains.

Justice Coleman Blease (Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District)
 Justice Blease has served as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District since he was appointed by Governor Brown in 1979. Justice Blease is the author of more than 3,500 opinions on a broad array of subjects, several hundred of which have been published, including a dozen on water law. Among them are County of Inyo v. City of Los Angeles (1981) 124 Cal.App.3d 1 [pumping of water from Owens Valley], County of Inyo v. City of Los Angeles (1984) 160 Cal.App.3d 1178 [review of environmental impact statement], California Trout, Inc. v. State Water Resources Control Board (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 585 [release of water into streams tributary to Mono Lake], California Trout, Inc. v. Superior Court (1990) 218 Cal.App.3d 187 [enforcement of the Mono Lake decision], Baldwin v. County of Tehama (1994) 31 Cal.App.4th 166 [county regulation of groundwater] and Central Delta Water Agency v. State Water Resources Control Board (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 245 [jurisdiction of state water board].
Martha Davis (Inland Empire Utilities Association) 
Ms. Martha Davis is Executive Manager for Policy Development at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA), a municipal water district serving 830,000 people in west San Bernardino County. IEUA provides regional sewage treatment services, distributes imported water and recycled water supplies, and provides other utility services for the Chino Basin. Since 2000, Ms. Davis has led many of the Agency’s award-winning conservation, planning and green programs including initiatives promoting water efficiency, renewable energy, stormwater capture, and recycled water. In addition, she is working with the Delta Stewardship Council on the development and implementation of the Delta Plan.

Ms. Davis currently serves on the Board’s of the WateReuse Association California Section, and the Bioenergy Association of California, and formerly with the Association of California Water Agencies. She chairs the WateReuse Legislative/Regulatory Committee and the California Association of Sanitation Agency’s Energy Committee and serves as Vice-Chair of ACWA’s Energy Committee and co chair of the California Watershed Council. She is also a board member for the Mono Lake Committee, Earth Island Institute, and the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment.

Previously, Ms. Davis served as the Executive Director for Californians and the Land (1998-2000) and for the Mono Lake Committee (1984-1996). Under her leadership, the Mono Lake campaign culminated in a unanimous landmark public trust decision by the State Water Resources Control Board to protect Mono Lake. Ms. Davis graduated from Stanford University cum laude with a degree in human biology and received her master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is the recipient of an honorary PhD in Public Policy from the Kennedy College in Oakland, California.

Dee Dee D’Adamo (State Water Resources Control Board)

Dorene D’Adamo was appointed to the State Water Resources Control Board by Governor Brown in 2013. She previously served on the California Air Resources Board under the Brown, Schwarzenegger and Davis Administrations, where she was instrumental in the board’s air quality and climate change programs and regulations.

Ms. D’Adamo served in various capacities for Members of Congress from the San Joaquin Valley, working primarily on agricultural and environmental legislative and regulatory policy. She was a representative on the Davis Administration’s CALFED team and the Davis Administration’s Red Team for the development of UC Merced. She was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger and reappointed by Governor Brown to the board of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Ms. D’Adamo also is on the Executive Committee of the Valley Coalition for UC Merced’s Medical School.

Ms. D’Adamo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Davis and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Mark Del Piero (Attorney, Former Member of State Water Resources Control Board)

From 1992-1999, Mr. Del Piero served as the Vice-Chair/Attorney Member of the State Water Resources Control Board. He was the Board’s sole Hearing Officer for the 43 day hearing that resulted in Decision 1631 (The Mono Lake Decision). Previously, Mr. Del Piero served on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors (1981-1992), and he was an adjunct professor of water law at his alma mater, Santa Clara University School of Law (1992-2011). Mr. Del Piero founded the Monterey County Ag Land Trust, a farmland preservation trust consisting currently of over 25,000 acres of Monterey County prime farmland and open space.

Mark Drew (California Trout)

Dr. Mark Drew has worked for California Trout as the eastern Sierra Regional Manager for the past seven years. In his capacity as Regional Manager, Mark is also the founder and Director of the Inyo-Mono Integrated Regional Water Management Program. Prior to joining California Trout, Dr. Drew worked as The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Southeastern Caribbean Program’s Protected Areas Specialist. As the Protected Areas Specialist, Dr. Drew managed TNC’s conservation programs in the US and British Virgin Islands. Prior to working for The Nature Conservancy, mark spent almost 15 years involved, both academically and professionally, in the fields of resource conservation, tropical food production and livelihood systems in the U.S. mainland, Oceania, and the Asia region. Dr. Drew holds a B.S. degree in Forestry and Natural Resources Management, an M.A. degree in International Development Policy and a Doctorate degree in Forestry and Resource Conservation from the University of Florida. Dr. Drew’s professional interests center largely on tackling challenging issues that address the needs of both human and natural systems.

Harrison Dunning (UC Davis)

Professor Hap Dunning taught property law and various natural resources and environmental law courses at UC Davis for 32 years. He also directed the staff of the Governors Commission to Review California Water Rights Law in 1977-78 and chaired a statewide initiative campaign on water policy in 1981-82. He is the author of the public right chapters in the national treatise Waters and Water Rights, chapters which are updated annually. He currently serves on the boards of The Bay Institute, the Tuolumne River Trust, the Water Education Foundation. the California Environmental Law and Policy Center (at UC Davis School of Law) and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.

Daniel Fuchs (California Attorney General’s Office)

Dan Fuchs has been working on environmental issues since graduating from U.C. Berkeley law school (Boalt Hall) in 1995. He has worked in water law since joining the Office of the Attorney General in 2007. He has been involved in cases relating to the Quantification Settlement Agreement, Monterey Plus, and several Delta issues. He represents the State Water Resources Control Board in the Scott River groundwater litigation.

Dean J. Keith Gilless (UC Berkeley, College of Natural Resources)

 J. Keith Gilless is Dean of the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at UC Berkeley; holds a joint professorial appointment in CNR’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and its Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics; and is currently serving as Chair of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. His research focuses on the economics of forestry, fire protection, and international development. He currently teaches the freshman seminar for Global Environmental Theme House, and has previously taught courses dealing with environmental economics, forest management, environmental problem solving, and environmental literature.

Michael Kiparsky (UC Berkeley)

Michael Kiparsky is Associate Director of the Wheeler Institute for Water Law and Policy at Berkeley Law.

Dr. Kiparsky has worked on both technical and policy aspects of water resources management, and his overarching professional interest lies at the intersection between the two. As a researcher, he has published on governance and policy of complex water systems, as well as on risk analysis, impacts of climate change on hydrology, and adaptation to climate change. As a practitioner, he has experience in consulting (Tully & Young Comprehensive Water Planning), non-profit (Pacific Institute), and agency (CALFED Science Program) settings. Before returning to U.C. Berkeley, Dr. Kiparsky was on the faculty at the University of Idaho.

Dr. Kiparsky earned a Ph.D. and M.S. at U.C. Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group, an interdisciplinary graduate program, and holds an A.B. in Biology from Brown University. He has won awards for his work from sources including the National Science Foundation, the Association of California Water Agencies, the CALFED Bay Delta Science Program, and the Udall Foundation.

Matt Kondolf (UC Berkeley)

 G. Mathias (Matt) Kondolf is a fluvial geomorphologist and environmental planner, specializing in environmental river management and restoration. As Professor of Environmental Planning at the UC Berkeley, he teaches courses in hydrology, river restoration, and environmental science. His research concerns human-river interactions broadly, with emphasis on management of flood-prone lands, sediment management in reservoirs and regulated river channels, and river restoration, especially in urban environments. He has conducted research on geomorphic change and/or restoration potential on the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and tributaries, the Lower Colorado, Russian, Trinity, and Klamath Rivers of California/Oregon, as well as rivers in Florida, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean basin.

Michael Lauffer (State Water Resources Control Board) 

Since 2005, Michael has been the chief counsel to California’s State Water Resources Control Board and the nine California regional water quality control boards. California’s water boards are the principal state agencies responsible for protecting and enhancing surface and groundwater quality in the state. In addition, the State Water Board is responsible for allocating the surface waters of the state to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses.

Prior to being selected as chief counsel, Michael served as the lead counsel to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region and advised the State Water Board on underground storage tank issues. He has been lead agency counsel defending challenges to storm water permits, permits for waste water treatment facilities, and total maximum daily loads. He was the lead attorney for California’s environmental agencies defending the first North American Free Trade Agreement investor claim brought against a California environmental measure and the first complaint brought against California under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.

Michael began his legal career practicing environmental law with a large firm in San Diego and San Francisco. He assisted clients complying with the Clean Water Act, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Proposition 65, CEQA, CERCLA, and RCRA. He is a graduate of Grinnell College and received his J.D. and M.S.E.L., both with honors, from Vermont Law School.

Felicia Marcus (State Water Resources Control Board)

Felicia Marcus was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) for the State of California in 2012, and designated by the Governor as Chair in April of 2013.  The Board implements both federal and state laws regarding drinking water and water quality, and it implements the state’s water rights laws.  The Board sets statewide water quality, drinking water, and water rights policy, hears appeals of local regional board water quality decisions, decides water rights disputes, and provides financial assistance to communities to upgrade water infrastructure. Before her appointment to the Water Board, Marcus served in positions in government, the non-profit world, and the private sector.  In government, Felicia served as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX in the Clinton Administration where she was known for her work in bringing unlikely allies together for environmental progress and for making the agency more responsive to the communities it serves, particularly Indian Tribes, communities of color, local government, and agricultural and business interests. While at USEPA, Felicia worked extensively on the range of environmental issues under EPA’s jurisdiction, most heavily in air quality, Bay-Delta water, tribal, and US-Mexico border issues. Prior to that, Felicia headed Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works at a time when the City went from garnering lawsuits to garnering national awards for environmental excellence. Felicia came to Public Works after extensive experience as a public interest lawyer and community organizer in Los Angeles, including being a co-founder and general counsel for Heal the Bay.  In the non-profit world, she was the Western Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national environmental leader in bringing science, law, and policy expertise to solving our world’s pressing environmental and conservation challenges.  Prior to joining NRDC, Felicia was the Executive VP/COO of the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit devoted to conserving land for people.  She also was a private and non-profit sector attorney in Los Angeles.   She currently serves or has served in the past on many non-profit boards and Advisory Councils including the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Leadership Council, Sustainable Conservation, USC-Kesten Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, and the Center for Diversity and the Environment. She is also currently an Obama Administration appointee to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation-Joint Public Advisory Council (US, Mexico, Canada) and was a Schwarzenegger Administration appointee to the Delta Stewardship Council prior to being appointed to the Water Board.
Geoff McQuilkin (Mono Lake Committee)
Geoffrey McQuilkin became a Mono Lake Committee member in fifth grade and his enthusiasm for Mono Lake has never waned. He has worked for the nonprofit Mono Lake Committee for over twenty years, including the past decade as Executive Director, giving him the chance to be involved with all aspects of the citizen group’s protection, restoration, education, and science programs. He can be found wherever Mono Lake advocacy is needed, from the lake’s salty shores to Los Angeles to Sacramento. A graduate of Harvard in the History of Science, Geoff lives at Mono Lake with his wife and three daughters.
Nancee Murray (California Department of Fish and Wildlife)
 Nancee Murray earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Juris Doctor Degree at the University of California at Davis. After graduating from U.C. Davis, she joined the law firm of Baker, Manock and Jensen in Fresno, focusing her practice on environmental and water related issues. In 1991, she became an Assistant Attorney General for the Federated States of Micronesia, eventually becoming the Chief of the Division of Law. She returned to the United States in 1994 and in 1995 joined the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Staff Counsel, focusing on water rights and hydropower issues.
Timothy Quinn (Association of California Water Agencies)

Timothy Quinn has been the Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies since 2007. ACWA represents about 440 public agencies that deliver more than 90 percent of the water supplied to urban and agricultural water users in California. Prior to joining ACWA, Tim was Deputy General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Tim holds a doctorate degree in economics from UCLA and appeared twice as an expert witness in economics and water management in the Mono Lake case.

Justice Ronald Robie (Superior and Municipal Courts of Sacramento County)
A trial judge for 19 years, Justice Robie has served on the
3rd District Court of Appeal since 2002. Previously he served as consultant to
the California Assembly Water Committee, as a member and Vice-Chair of the
State Water Resources Control Board, and as Director of the State Department of
Water Resources. He taught water law and environmental law for 40 years at
Pacific/McGeorge School of Law. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA, MJ) and
Pacific/McGeorge School of Law (JD).
Richard Roos-Collins (Water and Power Law Group PC)

Richard Roos-Collins is Principal of the Water and Power Law Group PC, based in Berkeley, California. He represents public agencies, tribes, conservation groups, and companies in cases to enhance the sustainability of water and power resources. He specializes in complex settlement negotiations.

Richard is the Chairman, Low Impact Hydropower Institute (Portland, Maine); and Director, Pacific Forest Stewardship Council (San Mateo, CA).

He formerly was Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice and Attorney-Advisor, U.S, Environmental Protection Agency. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Princeton University.

Antonio Rossmann (Berkeley Law)

Antonio Rossmann has served in the past 40 years as counsel in some of California’s and the American West’s leading water and land-use proceedings, including the Owens Valley groundwater war, the Mono Lake public trust litigation, South Pasadena’s resistance to the 710 freeway, Nevada’s opposition to the MX missile and the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, the State Water Project Monterey Amendments challenge, the Imperial-to-San Diego Colorado River water transfer, and protection of California groundwater regulation against constitutional attacks.

In 2010 the Los Angeles Daily Journal named Mr. Rossmann as one of the Top 100 California Attorneys.

Mr. Rossmann, an honors graduate of Harvard College (1963) and Harvard Law School (1971) and former editor of the Harvard Law Review, has taught water resources, land use, and constitutional law for the past 30 years, since 1991 at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall. Previously he taught at Stanford, Hastings, UCLA, and as Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Tokyo.

From August 2012 to January 2013 Mr. Rossmann has been on sabbatical leave in Rome, where he has been consulting with international organizations on water resources issues in the developing world

Andy Sawyer (State Water Resources Control Board)

Andy Sawyer is an Assistant Chief Counsel at the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) in Sacramento, California, where his responsibilities include managing the activities of the Office of Chief Counsel involving the State Water Board’s water right and underground storage tank programs. Sawyer has held his current position since 1988, and worked for the State Water Board since 1977. Before coming to the State Water Board, he had a clerkship with Justice Samuel J. Roberts of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Sawyer is a former chair of the Environmental Law Section of Sacramento County Bar Association, and a former chair of the Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of California.

Sawyer received his J.D. in 1976 from the University of California at Berkeley and his A.B in 1973 from Harvard.

Mary Scoonover (Resources Legacy Foundation; Formerly Attorney General’s Office)

Mary Scoonover provides executive leadership to Resources Legacy Fund, a donor-driven, nonprofit organization achieving enduring conservation outcomes. She engages partners and philanthropy to design conservation programs that address complex natural resource management issues, including land and water conservation, land use, climate adaptation, ecosystem diversity, strategic coalition development, and federal and state law, policy, and funding.

Before joining RLF, Mary was a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, where she represented the state in litigation concerning Mono Lake, Owens Lake, the Lower Owens River, California’s coast and San Francisco Bay Delta, and Lake Tahoe. She is a graduate of the UC Davis School of Law.

Lester Snow (California Water Foundation)

Lester Snow is Executive Director of the California Water Foundation an initiative of the Resources Legacy Fund. Mr. Snow has a distinguished record of innovation and results working on complex natural resource management matters. Most recently, he served as California Secretary for Natural Resources, where he oversaw 25 departments, commissions, boards, and conservancies, and served as chief advisor on issues related to the state’s natural, historic, and cultural resources. During this time he also served as chairman of the California Ocean Protection Council and served on the Delta Conservancy, Delta Protection Commission, and the Strategic Growth Council. Previously, Mr. Snow was Director of the California Department of Water Resources, where he headed a Department that protects, conserves, and manages California’s water supply, including operation of the California State Water Project, the largest state-run, multi-purpose water and power system in the United States. Mr. Snow has also served as Executive Director of CALFED, regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation, General Manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, and spent six years with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, including four years as Tucson area director. Mr. Snow holds a Master’s degree in Water Resources Administration from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences from Pennsylvania State University.

Scott Stine (CSU East Bay)

Scott Stine (Ph.D. UCB, 1987) is Emeritus Professor of Geography and Environment at Cal State East Bay, an Adjunct Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, and a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. His dissertation, “The Past 4000 Years at Mono Lake,” concerned the past fluctuations of the lake, the volcanic history of the Mono Islands, and the evolution of tufa, dunes, and deltas, among other things. In 1983 Stine became a consultant and expert witness for the California State Attorney General’s Office and associated agencies on matters related to lakes, streams, climate, and landscape history. He has given testimony on a variety of subjects related to Mono Lake before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the California State Water Resources Control Board, and the El Dorado County Superior Court. Stine is the author of 30 scientific articles and reports concerning the once and future Mono Basin.

Barton Thompson (Stanford University)

Barton “Buzz” Thompson is the Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law at Stanford Law School, the Perry L. McCarty Director & Senior Fellow in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and a Senior Fellow in Stanford’s Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies. Professor Thompson helped found the Woods Institute and has served as its director since its launch in 2004. With over 150 faculty members from disciplines as diverse as engineering and business, the Woods Institute solves global sustainability challenges through cutting-edge research and collaboration.

Professor Thompson is an expert in water law and has written scores of articles and books on the subject. His recent books include Legal Control of Water Resources, now in its fifth edition, as well as Managing California’s Water: From Conflict to Reconciliation with Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Brian Gray, and others. Much of his scholarship has focused on the role of private markets in the water sector. He currently serves as Special Master for the United States Supreme Court in Montana v. Wyoming, an original jurisdiction dispute involving the waters of the Yellowstone River system.

Professor Thompson chairs the boards of the Resources Legacy Fund and the American Farmland Trust. He also serves as a California trustee for The Nature Conservancy and as a board member for the Sonoran Institute and the Santa Lucia Conservancy. He is a former member of the Science Advisory Board of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Professor Thompson received his A.B., M.B.A., and J.D. degrees from Stanford University. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he clerked for then-Justice William Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court and was a partner with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers.

Peter Vorster (The Bay Institute and consulting hydrologist)

Peter Vorster has over 38 years of experience as a hydrogeographer and hydrologist, much of it focused on California’s water resources and the landmark environmental water conflicts in the Eastern Sierra (Mono Lake and the Owens Valley) and the San Francisco Bay-Delta watershed. He was a principal researcher on the California Water Atlas and a key player in the successful effort to restore Mono Lake and its streams. At The Bay Institute Peter heads up the San Joaquin River Restoration Initiative and is a principal for the Ecological Scorecard project. Currently he is a senior advisor to the California Water Foundation on their Sustainable Water Management Profile project.

Peter is also an independent consultant for environmental groups working on stream restoration and environmental flow management, primarily in the Eastern Sierra.

Peter’s expertise includes water management, water balance and system operations modeling, environmental restoration, historical geography of California, and museum education.